The panel of independent commissioners who will recommend how to build a sustainable and integrated transport system for North Wales have been announced.
Welsh Government revealed last month that the body would be set up and led by Lord Terry Burns, who leads a similar commission in South East Wales and is a former Permanent Secretary of the UK Treasury.
It comes after the Government has cancelled two major road projects in recent months after placing highways schemes in Wales under review from a climate change road review panel.
These were the £14m Llanbedr bypass and £75m plan to remove the A55 roundabouts at Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr - despite already spending £10.5m on both projects.
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Now the new commission's panel has been named. Among the things they could consider are a 50mph limit on additional parts of the A55 - something suggested by the climate change roads review panel.
The Commission will be taking an "evidence-led approach to produce recommendations that will help deliver a high-quality integrated transport system for North Wales, improving the way we travel while cutting emissions". The conclusions of the Welsh Government’s Roads Review will form part of that evidence base for the Commission’s recommendations, which are due to be presented next year.
Deputy Minister for Climate Change Lee Waters said: "The North Wales Transport Commission will build on the great work already being delivered by the North Wales Metro programme such as this Fflecsi service, and consider the needs of all communities; both urban and rural, along the coast and inland.
“It will be based on the successful model of the South East Wales Transport Commission, where after a year of hard work we’re starting to see our plans for an integrated public transport network become a reality.
“This is the opportunity to ensure that North Wales has the transport network which meets its needs for the future, and deals with the challenges we face with the climate emergency.
“I’m very pleased to announce the six commissioners who will take forward this work and provide recommendations to me next year. They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge and I look forward to working with them.”
Minister for North Wales Lesley Griffiths said: “This is good news for North Wales. I’m pleased Lord Burns is chairing this commission, following his expert work in South East Wales. This has the potential to bring effective and innovative recommendations on how to build a sustainable transport network for the whole of the region.”
The six commissioners are:
Professor John Parkin
Professor of Transport Engineering at the University of the West of England and Deputy Director of the Centre for Transport and Society.
Ashley Rogers
Commercial Director of the North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council.
Dyfed Edwards
Deputy Chair of the Welsh Revenue Authority and former Leader of Gwynedd Council
Dr Georgina Santos
Senior Lecture at Cardiff University and economist interested in environmental and transport economics and public policy.
Sue Flack
Former Director of Planning and Transport at Nottingham City Council, now independent transport consultant specialising in integrating planning and transport.
Stephen Joseph OBE
Advisor and former Director of the Campaign for Better Transport.
The Commission will be supported by a Welsh Government and Transport for Wales Secretariat. From this, the Deputy Minister has appointed Advisory Members to the Commission given their particular expertise. They are;
Glyn Evans
Active Travel Lead - North Wales, Transport for Wales
Ruth Wojtan
North Wales Metro Strategic Development Project Manager
